Black-Eyed Suzie Art Dolls and Oddities

Black-Eyed Suzie has Moved!

I'm very excited to announce that I've moved my blog over to Squarespace!  My new site has a homepage and a blog, as well as photo galleries (still under construction) and several other pages/ links.    I'll keep this page up here at typepad for to let people know about the move, but all new blog entries will be posted over at the new site.  There's an introductory post up there now, and all my archived posts are there as well.  If you would like to update your links/ feeds, that would be lovely.

Hope to see you there!

 

http://blackeyedsuzie.squarespace.com

Prezzies

Happy New Year!  Does anyone else out there feel like every year since 2000 has sounded like science fiction/ make-believe?  I don't know if I'll ever get my head into this millennium...Anyway, I hope all your days of late have been merry and bright!

I thought I'd share a few photos of Christmas presents I made, some of which I'll soon be adding to my shop as prints.  Yes, it's time to bring back the prints.  I never meant to leave them out for this long, but I looked up after my little boy was born and suddenly a year had gone by.  It scares me sometimes how quickly it goes by.

Bird Gehrls I & II, named for one of my favourite Antony and the Johnsons songs.  I have a few little left cages, so I'll be making more of these.

And one more ballerina...I think I'll make more of these eventually, too.  This time I used silk organza for the tutu instead of tulle and liked it even more. 

Making it reminded me of how I once insisted on wearing my ratty pink tutu to school (paired it with a plaid shirt).  My poor mother...she relented, and now that I have a baby I understand why. If we could somehow harness the willfulness and determination of young children, we could solve the world's energy problems.

My First Stop Motion Animation

Life has been a bit mad around here (do I start every post that way? I can't remember anymore...)  Last week, I had a 10-page final translation project due and M. and I were both sick.  I managed to finish, and I'm so deeply relieved to be done with my class.  Interesting as it was, it was so much work and it left me very little time for my much-loved activity of stuff-making, as every time M. took a nap, I was racing to finish translation assignments.  I'm thinking that I won't continue my Translation degree (Mr. L will, however - do we really both need the exact same degree?) so that I have more time for writing and doll-making. This weekend, we also had a little birthday party for M., which was so much fun and a little emotional for me as I can't quite believe my sweet little baby is already a year old.

I'm still chipping away at my most recent group of dolls, but during my crazy week, I came to terms with the fact I won't be able to finish them in time to mail them out before Christmas unless I pull a few all nighters, something neither my eyes nor my sanity can withstand these days.  I do apologize if anyone was planning to buy a doll as a gift, but I can't bring myself to spend so much time on the sculpting and eye-making just to rush through constructing the costumes and wigs.  And the dolls won't stand for it!

Even though they're coming along slowly, I'm really happy with the faces and the new eyes have turned out.  I'm officially in love with glass.          

Over the weekend, I put together a very brief stop motion animation with the ball-jointed doll I made last summer and a small, antique porcelain doll head given to me by my dear friend Sue.  It's my first try and quite primitive at that, but I thought I'd share it here. Even though I made lots of newbie mistakes, it was fun to play around with and exciting to find out I can do this with just my camera and my laptop.  I used iMovie and this very simple tutorial.

Glass Eyes & Shrunken Heads

I've finally finished sculpting the heads for my most recent batch of dolls, which means I can start to sand and paint them and then assemble the bodies.  Painting is my favourite part - it's when the character really emerges.  And then the clothes, which is my second favourite part... I think I might have to postpone my plans to make Alexander McQueen-inspired clothing; I want to at least try to do him justice, and I'm running out of time to finish these dolls before Christmas. But I will definitely get there - I ordered the book Savage Beauty and was once again taken aback by his exquisite designs.

If you look closely at these photos (sorry - not my best!) you might be able to see that I used my own glass eyes!  I'm so excited about these.  They are still quite irregular - each one is different from the next - but I think it somehow suits my dolls, which are far from symmetrical.

Anyway, I'll be sure to get really good photos once they're done so that the detail of the eyes can be seen.  I feel like I'm finally getting closer to making what I see in my mind's eye, which means it's taken me over 5 years just to get close.  Practising patience...

Bits and Pieces

I finally feel like I'm making some progress with my latest batch of dolls, even though it's been ever so slow.  But almost all the parts have been made and varnished and the assembly line i underway.

Some dainty feet and legs with real stockings...

I came up with a new technique for hands and am finally very happy with how they've turned out.  It's very time-consuming, but worth it, I think.

The heads are still missing their faces (spooky!) because out of the most recent batch of eyes I made, only one turned out well enough to use.  I'm going back to the glass studio this week to make more; I have to remind myself that it's okay to be bad at something in the beginning and that I will get better with practice, but I'm frustrated that I have so little control over this medium.

My translation class has turned out to be rather grueling, but I'm hoping to have these ladies ready in early December...gotta go string some legs together!

 

Survey Says...

I had hoped to have some WIP photos ready for this post, but I'm not quite there...next time for sure.  I was fresh out of ideas for post, so I stole the alphabet survey below from another blogger (thanks, Charis!)

A: Age ~ 36…hard to believe, as I remember being a kid and feeling so very sorry for my mom when she turned 36.  I figured her life was basically over.  But I'm happy to find that I don’t feel old at all…

B: Bed ~ Something I don’t get enough of these days…

C: Chore that you hate ~ Dishes. The WORST. Ever.  I actually fantasize about the magical day we’ll have a dishwasher.

D: Dogs ~ We have cats, but I can’t wait to get a dog when we move to the country. (That’s when we’ll get our gorgeous dishwasher, too!)

E: Essential start to your day ~ English breakfast tea in my giant ‘Mrs. Darcy’ mug. (Yes, I have a secret Pride and Prejudice obsession. So girly.)

F: Favourite colour ~ For clothes, I like black, but I also love pink. And deep, wine-coloured reds.

G: Gold or silver ~ silver. My wedding ring is white gold. Can’t pull off gold at all.

H: Height ~ almost 5"9

I: Instruments you play ~ None. I’m not very musically inclined.  I played trombone(!) in junior high and high school, but was mediocre at best.

J: Job title ~ writer, dolleteer?

K: Kids ~ a bee-a-oooootiful ten-month old boy who makes me laugh about a thousand times a day.

L: Live ~ Montréal, dans la belle province.

M: Mother's name ~ Suzie

N: Nickname ~ Fabe, Faberlicious.

O: Overnight hospital stays ~ One grueling night in the ER after I broke my knee.  Almost a full week after my C-section, which didn’t go quite as planned.

P: Pet peeves ~ People who get in my way because they’re fondling their cellphones.  People who nearly run me over because they’re fondling their cellphones.  The general erosion of good manners and basic social etiquette.  Call me grandma.

Q: Quote from a film ~ “I don't want to sell anything, buy anything, or process anything as a career. I don't want to sell anything bought or processed, or buy anything sold or processed, or process anything sold, bought, or processed, or repair anything sold, bought, or processed.” (Lloyd Dobler from Say Anything)

R: Right or left handed? ~ Right.

S: Siblings ~ Hannah, David, Jules, Lulu & Tisha (it’s complicated)

T: Time you wake up ~ 12:00am, 2:00am, 4:00am… you get the picture

U: Underwear ~ natural fibres, preferably no seams.  I used to have a $5 limit, but have recently increased it to $12 if they’re really comfy.

V: Vegetable you hate ~ Is fennel a vegetable?  And those miniature corn cobs in Chinese food – does anyone actually eat those?

W: What makes you run late: My husband. (I’m actually pretty punctual.)

X: X-rays you've had ~ my knee & teeth

Y: Yummy food that you make ~ Unbelievably good chocolate cake (recipe from my step-mom) with raspberry icing.

Z: Zoo animal ~ Zoos make me sad.

 

A New American Gothic

While visiting a friend this summer, I happened upon the work of Andrea Kowch in an art magazine and was blown away.  Similarly to what loved about Jane Eyre, I'm drawn its restrained Gothic sensibility.  
Her paintings are haunting and beautifully dark, but without being overbearingly so.  Sometimes it seems  like contemporary Gothic artwork is all about black corsets and striped tights; those more obvious elements are fun (I've used them in my own work many times) but lately I find myself drawn to more subtle expressions of the genre.

I hope to have some WIP shots of my latest dolls in my next post; my little guy (never a great sleeper) has been partying all night long this past week, so I feel like a zombie half the time, but I'm forcing myself to work on them because I was really missing having a creative outlet in my day to day life.  Mind you, parenting feels pretty damn creative most days!

Jane Eyre

Life is very busy these days, as Mr. L and I have both started school again (our translation degrees).  I'm only taking one class, but must squeeze all the reading and writing into baby M's naps or after he's asleep for the night, and by that time, my brain is basically mush.  I have started my next batch of dolls, but they are moving slowly...will post some WIP photos as soon as I have something worth documenting. 

 
We did make time to watch a movie this past weekend: Cary Joji Fukunaga's adaptation of Jane Eyre, which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I've professed my love for for Gothic literature on this blog before, and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights is one of my favourites, but somehow I've made this far without ever having read Charlotte's Jane Eyre. Anyway, now I feel I must because I loved the movie.  It had all the delicious elements of the Gothic I love - desolate English landscape, dark castle, brooding man, struggling-to-be-free woman - but without descending into caricature or ridiculing the genre, which is easy to do.  It's actually quite understated and beautiful and Micheal Fassbender (who plays Rochester) is a serious honey.  

 I even enjoyed Mia Wasikowska; she put me off in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland (so disappointing!) and I didn't really get the big fuss about The Kids are Alright, but I thought she was very well-cast here.  So, another addition to my ever-lengthening list  of books I don't have time to read.  Oh, how it mocks me.  If you have such a list, you might consider this in the meantime...

Home Again, Home Again

We're back after a month visiting our families in Maine and Cape Breton.  So wonderful to see the sea, see the trees.  I long to move to Cape Breton, so as much as I love visiting, it's always bittersweet because eventually I know I'll have to leave.  Given that I've been fortunate enough to find a place on earth that's my own pastoral paradise, it feels profoundly wrong to leave it behind to return to a hot, humid city. Especially with a baby who seemed happier than he's ever been naked on the beach and crawling across endless grass. But we have a three year plan.  We'll get home for good, one of these days.

While we were in Maine, we visited the Four Seasons Farm, with the most spectacular vegetable beds and these beautiful flowers.

But my dad's lilies, pictured above, can rival any professional. (He was also the town zucchini champ three years in a row, ahem.) And he even let baby M. pull apart some of his lovely roses.

Many days at the beach, like this one where my little love was whisked off by my sweet sister, gone to meet the sea-babies...

 

 

Stuffed Cat, Silly Cat

Last weekend, some friends came over for lunch and brought baby M. the most charming little stuffed cat: his name is Serge and he comes from Raplapa, a boutique in Montreal that sells lovely handmade dolls and animals.
They sell their toys at various boutiques throughout North America, Europe and Australia, but you can also buy from them online. Serge is beautifully made (he came with a little story), and these little fellows below are also available: 

Speaking of funny-looking cats, our little black friend got his annual summer haircut, which never gets old.  We do it because his fur is so absurdly thick, it spares him much heat-related misery, but it also happens to be one of the funniest things I've ever seen.     

If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might have seen variations on these photos in the past, but I can't resist any more than he can resist climbing into any ridiculously small space.

 

 

 

 

Alexander

I didn't post about it at the time, but I was very saddened by Alexander McQueen's suicide last year.  Though I spend most of my time in jeans and Adidas, I love extravagant fashion. To me, McQueen was an artist; his clothing was dramatic and structured, romantic, dark and sometimes aggressive. Often breathtaking.
Lately, I've been trying to think of ways to challenge myself with my dolls because for a while I felt I was in a bit of rut.  I want to experiment with the structure of the dolls themselves (I have a few new ideas for joints), but I also want to do more interesting things with clothing.  So, I've started my next group of dolls with the incredible architecture of McQueen's clothing in mind.  It seems almost too bold to say so, but I'll get bored if I don't keep trying new things.

If you're anywhere near NYC, there's a McQueen retrospective at the Met that looks amazing. Savage Beauty is on until August 7th and it emphasizes both his exceptional designs and his skill as a craftsman of bespoke clothing.  If, like me, you can't there, the site for the exhibit has great photos and  video (both of the exhibit itself and footage of some of McQueen's runway shows). 

The Alexander McQueen website also has video of all his runway shows, which were as dramatic as the clothing itself.  'The Girl Who Lived in a Tree' (Fall/ Winter 2008) is a personal favourite, and you can find it under the runway archives. I don't know yet which dresses I'll look to for inspiration, but I'm so excited to try!

 p.s. Thank you so much to everyone who commented and emailed with kind words about the Black Swan dolls - they have all been adopted and are off to their new homes in Toronto,the UK and Australia!